Maximum Saving
by Emelhi
Summary: The flock kicks Max out of the flock. 4 years later she has a new life and a new family. What happens when some people from the past show up and stir up a whole new set of problems? Read & Review
1. Chapter 1

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"_Max, we want to know what you've been going to the School at nights for." Fang said coldly, staring hard into my eyes._

"_I…" I trailed off not knowing what to say. If I told them the truth, they would just get mad and yell at me for being 'stupid'. But I was doing what I had to so the flock would be safe. "I…"_

"_We know."_

"_You do?" I gasped, partly relieved that I wouldn't have to explain everything to them._

"_We trusted you Max! How could you?" Wait. Hold the train for a second. My brain froze as I tried to understand what Gazzy meant._

"_It's pretty obvious. Flyboys always know where we are and you go sneaking off to the school at night. You need to leave." Fang stated emotionlessly. _

_The words sank in and tears threatened to spill from my eyes, but I refused to let them see me cry. I couldn't believe they thought I was a traitor! I raised them and protected them with my life. I would do anything for them._

_I looked around at the five familiar faces and saw nothing but hostility and anger and made my decision. _

"_You…" I paused and took a deep breath. "You're right. I need to leave." A look at Nudge's surprised face told me they hadn't expected me to say that so I continued with venom in my voice. "If you honestly think that I would do anything like you are accusing me off, I have no idea why I'm still here. I thought you knew me better than that."_

_I leapt straight up in the air and spread my wings, taking off into the night. I flew as fast as I could, not once looking back._

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**OK so i know thats super short and i promise everything else will be longer... but this is just getting it started so yea**

**emz23hilski**


	2. Chapter 2

**Special thanks to:**

** kat-fly-fan**

** Kitkino86**

** Shazza-Girl**

** alpha-range**

**Thanks for the reviews guys! It really helps me out. **

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I woke up with a jolt, shaking off the memory that had haunted me for four years. I had a new life now—a new family.

I looked at the sleeping figure beside me. He stirred slightly and opened his sparkling blue eyes slowly. "Good morning, sleepyhead." I said with a grin as I watched Sterling sit up.

His blond hair was sticking up all over the place and his eyes were still half shut. "Hey yourself." He said in a voice rough from sleep as I slipped out of bed.

I padded barefoot across the hall to wake Peak and Blade up. I stopped at the door to look at the two sleeping boys and laughed lightly.

Blade, who was only five, was curled up in a little ball and took up hardly any of the bed. That was more than I could say for Peak.

His head was buried under a pillow that one arm was holding onto while the other arm hung off the side of the bed. His feet were spread far apart, taking up as much room as the nine year old could manage.

As I walked to the bed Blade's green eyes pop open. "Hi Max!" He said as he hopped out of bed and gave me a big hug. He was so cute! His dark blond hair was short and spiky as I ran a hand through it.

"Hey sweetie. Why don't you go get Sterling to make us some breakfast?" I asked and he happily bounced out of the room. I shook my head and walked over to the bed.

"Yo Peak." He didn't move. I leaned over the bed so I was right by his ear and whispered "Boo!"

He shrieked and tried to jump up, only failing because the sheets were twisted around him, causing him to land on the floor with a _Thunk_.

"Max!" He complained. "Why'd you have to do that?" His black hair fell in his eyes and he roughly pushed it away muttering something under his breath.

I laughed at his expression. "Come on. Sterling is supposed to be getting breakfast ready."

With that said he jumped up and followed me to the kitchen where Sterling and Blade were sitting at the table with a box of cereal between them.

Peak slumped when he saw breakfast was just cereal, but didn't say anything. I shot a glare at Sterling who just shrugged and continued eating. Rolling my eyes I walked to the fridge and opened it up to see what we had.

Nothing. I groaned and closed the door. "Uggghhh… I'm going to the store. Peak you coming?" I asked as I headed for a window.

"Hey Max?" I turned around as Blade spoke. "Don't you want to change clothes?"

I looked down at myself. I had on a pair of short shorts and an old white tank top that had slits for my wings, probably not the best thing for wearing to the store.

Sterling smirked and Blade smiled angelically. "Thanks Blade." I said before returning to my room.

I threw on a pair of old jean shorts and a faded tee-shirt that used to be Sterling's. My hair went up in a messy ponytail as I walked back to the others.

"Ready?" I asked Peak, who I was glad to see had already changed.

"Yep. Let's get us some grub." He said, rubbing his hands together. I rolled my eyes. Boys will be boys.

"'Kay. We'll be back in a while." I said as I walked over to the window, throwing the panel up.

I looked to make sure nobody was paying attention then jumped out the window and spread my wings, Peak close behind me.

"Be careful." I heard Sterling say from behind us.

I was always careful. We didn't get much trouble from Flyboys anymore but once in a while Ryder would bother me.

Ryder was another human-avian who was Sterling's age, 19. He had been brought up at the School and worked for them now, seeing no problem with inflicting the same torture he had once experienced. I hated him.

Peak and I flew and landed in the alley closest to the store we went to. Walking out into the street we tried to look as normal as possible. We did the whole 'I-Don't-Have-Wings-What-Are-You-Talking-About' thing.

It seemed to work pretty well since nobody ran around us screaming about mutants that could fly. With a quick look over my shoulder I pushed Peak through the automatic doors wanting to get the stuff as soon as possible.

Even though it had been a few years since I had been on the run, I still hated being around a lot of people. Especially in a building with few escape routes.

We walked through the aisles and I picked out the stuff I knew we needed. As Peak was trying to slip another box of junk food in the cart I noticed five people walk through the doors and froze.

They were all rather dirty and looked like they could use a shower and some sleep. It couldn't be them could it?

I took a deep breath and realized I had been holding it. "Let's go." I said quietly to Peak. The tall strawberry blond boy looked our way and frowned slightly before the whole group disappeared behind a wall of food.

I let out a small sigh and ushered Peak to the counter. The cashier took forever and I was bouncing on my toes lightly, mentally urging the girl to hurry up.

When she was finally done, I snatched up the bags not caring if anyone noticed everything I was carrying would be incredibly heavy. Especially for a normal eighteen year old girl.

Out of no where Sterling and Blade appeared in front of us, startling me so bad I dropped a couple bags. "What are you doing here?" I asked as Sterling bent to pick up the bags I had dropped.

"Blade had a bad feeling about something so we came to check on you guys" Normally when a five year old says they have a bad feeling about something, you humor them. If Blade said something, you listened right away. He was rarely wrong.

I frowned slightly and nodded. "Let's go home then." Just as we turned to leave I heard a voice behind me.

"Wait, Max!" I ignored it and kept walking with Blade who squeezed my hand tightly. "Max!!" It called again and I stopped and slowly turned around, Sterling at my side, BLade still clinging to my hand. Peak was beside Sterling, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What do you want?"

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**So hope you guys liked it!**

**id love it if you took a whole 5 seconds to review and tell me what you think of it!**

**Thanks**

**emz23hilski**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow guys... Thanks for all the reviews it really helps me write faster! So if you want more review Review REVIEW!!**

**And _Shazza-Girl_... sorry but you are wrong!! its not Fang!**

**So i think im going to be putting two chapters up today because tomorrow Im super busy and won't be getting home from volleyball till late. But if I don't get chapter four up please dont hate me. ill get it up as soon as possible!**

**O wait... I dont own Max or the flock BUT i DO own Sterling, Blade, and Peak!!**

**and yea thats it i think so... **

**here we go ENJOY!!**

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**Angel PoV**

"Max wait!" I called out as I hurried after the girl I was sure was Max. Who else could block their mind from me?

"Max!" The only thing that didn't make sense was the three guys with friends, but she could make friends, right? I wondered if they knew about her winds. She stopped and turned around glaring.

"What do you want?" She snapped angrily and I stopped. I thought she would be happy to see me.

Is it really you Max?" I asked as the others ran up beside me.

"I thought we established that when I turned around and answered you." She said dryly with a roll of her eyes.

"Yep. That's Max alright." Iggy said with a snort.

Nudge let out a squeal and charged towards her excitedly. Max took a step back into the hand of the oldest guy just as Nudge fell over. Iggy, Gazzy, and I ran to her trying to figure out what just happened.

Fang followed us over more slowly, still eyeing Max. _Who is that guy holding Max? Man, she only gotten more gorgeous. God we're a bunch of idiots._ I heard him think.

_Its okay Fang, we didn't know_ I assured him but secretly I thought he was right.

_No it not okay. And Angel?_

_Yea_ I knew what he was going to say.

_Get out of my head._

_Sure thing Fang._ I smiled at him and turned back to Nudge who was chatting happily, not hurt at all.

"What was that? Did see that? It was like a wall that came out of nowhere! Except it was invisible. Is that even possible? Oh man, wouldn't that be awesome! You guys get over here and look at this… err well you can't see it but still!" Nudge reached out tentatively and tapped on an invisible wall that separated Max and her friends from us.

"What do you want?" Max asked again since none of us answered her original question.

I frowned at her frustrated. I couldn't reach any of their minds, not even the little one was probably only four.

Fang, who had been standing there watching her silently, finally spoke. "Max, we've been looking for you since you left…"

"Since I left?" She asked with a sharp laugh. "You mean since you kicked me out? Now why would you do that?"

She folded my arms over my chest and glared at him. The little blond boy clung to Max's belt loop and frowned at us with a murderous look in his green eyes. It was creepy

The tall blond boy, who was probably Max's age stood behind her with his arms wrapped protectively around her waist. I was confused by that. Max hardly ever let any guys touch her, except Fang.

The last boy, who was around my age with dark hair stood close at Max's other side also had his arms crossed. His stormy grey eyes were hard but his face was set in a deep frown.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get anything from them. They knew how to block me really well and my head was starting to hurt so I just gave up.

**Max PoV**

I heard Angel heave a big sigh and looked away from Fang to see what her deal was. She was frowning and her brow was furrowed. My boys must all have their mind blocks up like i taught them, I thought proudly before turning my gaze back to Fang.

He ran a hand through his long dark hair with a sigh. I noticed his eyes flickered to Sterling arms around my waist then back to me. "We were wrong okay?"

"No dip Sherlock." I muttered. "How'd you manage to figure that one out?" If they thought I would come running back to them after they kicked me out they had another thing coming to them.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Fang asked casting looks around at the people who were watching the exchange take place. I had to admit I had noticed the attention we were getting too. It was annoying, not to mention it made me paranoid, but I didn't have to let him know that.

"Whatever." I shrugged like I didn't care. "How about the park?" I didn't wait for an answer before we turned and headed back into the crowded street. "We'll meet you there."

As we walked to a less crowded area where people wouldn't would notice us Peak spoke. "Why didn't we just fly with them?" He asked confused.

"They don't know about you guys. I don't know if I should trust them so I thought we should wait until you whip out your wings on them." I said with a sly smile at the boy. "Plus don't you want to beat them there? How about we get a little teleport action going on?"

Peak grinned wickedly up at me. "You bet." He took a swift look around as I picked Blade up and Peak grabbed my free hand and one of Sterlings. He closed his eyes in concentration.

For a second my eyes were clouded with colors; silvers, reds, yellows, blues, and greens flashed around before I blinked and looked around. We were in the park just out of view behind some trees.

"Excellent." I said as I ruffled his hair affectionately. He dodge out of the way after a second, but the smile on his face told me how happy he was.

He was a little trooper, that guy. He reminded me of Gazzy in some ways. Except of course he hadn't totally disowned me. And unlike Gazzy, he could teleport people around. It was annoying at times, but for the most part he was extremely reasonable for a nine year old. Most kids would abuse the power. We still flew most of the time, but when we were in a crunch it came in pretty handy.

I heard a rush of wings above us coming from deeper in the trees and turned to face the arriving flock. I set Blade back on the ground but he kept a hold of my hand with a determined look on his face. Gotta love the little guy. We waited as they came towards us, and their expressions were priceless. They were obviously not expecting us to be there already.

"Now Talk." I said. I just wanted to get this over with.

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**I'm stopping it there cuz i don't want to make this a super long chapter cuz i know that bothers some people and its easier to write if i split it up. so yea hope you liked it. the next chapter should be up soon...so while you are waiting i have an idea. **

**You can review! Sounds good? I think yes ;)**

**emz23hilski**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ahhh... Ive spent forever on this and its my longest chapter yet. So much for getting my homework done tonight... lol o well... hope u guys like it since it took so long!

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Fang PoV

We walked out of the woods and I was surprised to see four figures waiting for us just before the clearing. How did they get there before us? I know for a fact we took off before them.

"Now Talk." Max spoke with coldness in her voice I had been expecting. I knew this was going to be hard, but I had been hoping for the best.

I took a breath and looked at the flock, who were watching me patiently. They nodded and I turned back to the four figures in front of me. "Well…"

_Flashback_

_It was the morning after Max left and the rest of the flock were all pretty silent. I knew Max leaving had affected them and her parting words hadn't helped any. We were all wondering, what if we were wrong? _

_We were just packing up camp; I had decided to get away from the place that reminded them of Max. It was too hard. _

_With no warning Ryder fell through the trees and landed in a crouch on the ground before us. His black eyes watched us with cruel humor._

_After him a dozen flyboys landed clumsily behind him, waiting for his orders. He leaned against a tree and stuffed his hands in his pockets. _

"_So any of you know why I found Max flying alone yesterday?" He asked conversationally. "She's a lot easier to deal with when five other worthless bird kids are flying around."_

_I took a step at him. What did he mean, deal with? "You better not have hurt her." Even if we had told Max to leave, that didn't mean I wanted anything bad to happen to her. _

"_Oh, Fangy boy." He said shaking his head in mock sadness. "According to Max I really don't think that's your concern anymore."_

_I growled in my throat and Iggy put a hand on my shoulder. Ryder continued, ignoring me. _

"_What did she do that made you guys kick her out? We didn't get that far in the conversation. I wouldn't have kicked her out, that's for sure, she's too fine for that." He said with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm…" He said almost talking to himself but making sure we heard him. "I wonder if she'll stay with me?" He looked up at me suddenly. "So what did she do?" _

"_It's not your business." I snarled leaning towards him. Angel grabbed my hand._

Fang? I don't like what he's thinking about Max. Its not nice._ Angel thought at me and I growled again._

Calm down._ Angel scolded me in my head. _That's not helping it any._ She thought irritably. Her interruption distracted me enough that I calmed down a little._

"_It my business if you plan on seeing her again." Ryder said in response._

"_What did you do to her?" I asked my anger boiling over as I took another step forward. Angel grabbed my hand and Iggy's hand on my shoulder pulled me back. "I swear I'll kill you."_

"_Fang…" Iggy warned me._

"_If you tell me I'll explain everything to you." I considered for a second. It wasn't a bad bargain. _

"_Deal. She was sneaking back to the School at night." I said quickly. "Now where is she?"_

_Ryder howled with laughter. He was hunched over holding his sides and my eyes narrowed. "You kicked her out for that? You are a bunch of idiots!! She's better off without you!"_

"_What are you talking about?" Nudge asked nervously from behind me._

"_Oh no." I heard Angel whisper softly and I snapped my head to look at her. She was shaking her head with tears in her eyes. She fell to the ground and started sobbing. "Oh no." Gazzy was immediately at his sister's side looking alarmed. _

_Ryder had finally began to calm down and was starting to choke out words. "You thought… HAHAH… that she was a traitor?... HAHA. That is so ridiculous!" He turned scary serious all of a sudden. "I supposed she never told you the reason she went there did she?"_

_How did he know about it? My eyes narrowed even more and I answered curtly. "No."_

_He shook his head a bit sadly. "She made a deal with the School. She did whatever they made her do in exchange for your expiration dates to be transferred to her."_

_Nobody said a word. We were all shocked to silence, our emotions crashing over us in the huge surprise nobody had expected._

_I couldn't say anything. I just stood there. Not wanting to believe what he said. Not wanting to believe we had kicked Max out for no reason. She had been trying to save us. And we kicked her out._

_Her last words came back at me _'If you honestly think that I would do anything like you are accusing me off, I have no idea why I'm still here." _She had told us we were wrong. But we gave her no chance to explain._

_Without any urging Ryder explained. "They can't be erased so she had them transferred. After she got them all transferred she kept doing what the whitecoats told her to do so she could get them transferred off her. I don't know if she was done or not." _

_He looked up at me with more warmth in his eyes I had ever seen. "I hope so." He said sadly. "It wasn't the normal stuff. It was bad. I hated seeing it." _

_I don't know what shocked us more, the explanation of what Max did or Ryder's confession. I guess he still had some human emotions after all. _

_Nudge and Angel were sniffling together and I saw noiseless tears streaming down Iggy and Gazzys face. Reaching up to brush my hair out of my eyes, I felt the wetness on my cheeks_

_Just as soon as the human-like emotions had appeared, the black coldness was back in Ryder. "But you don't have to worry. She's with friends now." He said before taking off into the sky again with the Flyboys close behind him._

_Not one of us were in any condition to go after him._

_End Flashback_

**Max PoV**

As Fang told me the story I kept my expression perfectly blank.

Blade squeezed my hand tightly when he had talked about what Ryder had said happened to be at the school.

I knew he could feel the rush of pain at the memory that flooded through me. I felt bad my baby angel had to deal with my emotions, but he wouldn't let go.

Some of my anger at the flock disappeared as Fang talked but some of it remained. I mean, they thought I was a traitor in the first place! And I was glad that they found out the truth. But honestly, Ryder had to tell them?

I sighed. I wanted to get everything straightened out and then I wanted them to leave me alone. "Look guys. I think we have a lot to talk about. So how about you stick around New York for a couple days?" Nudge and Angel squealed as I knew they would.

"Can we Fang?" They coursed together shooting Fang Bambi eyes. "Please!!"

"Sure." Leave it to Fang to speak as little as possible.

"Maybe you could get a hotel room and umm... take a shower?" I suggested lightly. I mean they did look pretty dirty.

_Are you ever going to introduce us?_ Sterling asked in my head. It was one of his talents. He couldn't read thoughts put he could have a conversation with somebody in their heads. We have no idea why it works like that but it does. He was also responsible for the shield like thing Nudge had ran into at the store.

_I was getting to that part_ I thought back at him and he smiled.

"Umm... guys? This is the flock. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel." Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge waved when i pointed them out and Iggy and Fang gave a small nod.

"Flock? This is my new family. Sterling, Peak, and Blade." The flock winced slightly when I said new family but i ignored it.

BLade walked up to Fang and poked him in the chest. Well, it was actually the stomach since he isn't actually that tall. He's only five after all. "You better not hurt my mommy again. Daddy and I will be mad." He huffed and walked back to me taking my hand.

I had to laugh at the flock's expression. It was priceless. Fang's was the best. "You..." He sputtered, slightly red in the face. "Him?" He asked looking at Sterling. "Umm...wow." He stuttered lamely before he finally gave up.

I heard Sterling chuckling behind me and Peak was trying not to crack up. "Yes Fang." I said with a completely serious face. "He's ours." I hugged Sterling causing him to laugh even harder.

Fang's face got even redder. I gave up and started laughing. "No you idiot. How old do you think Blade is?"

"Uhhh... four?" He guessed.

"No! Im five!" Blade shouted at him angry to be thought of only four when he was five.

"Geez Fang. I'm glad you think so highly of me." I said sarcastically with a laugh. "Look, we've got plans today so why don't you guys figure out where you are staying and we can meet here again tomorrow morning."

I could tell the flock was reluctant to let me leave but they would deal with it. It wasn't my fault this had happened.

"I didn't... I..." Fang was still shook up. Which was really weird for him, what was his problem?

"Bro just shut up." Iggy said and I mentally thanked him. "What time?" He said looking at me.

It took me a second to realize he was actually looking at me. "O My GOD!! IGGY YOU CAN SEE!!"

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**Sigh Wow that took a long time to write. Hope you liked it.**

**Umm... to those of you who are asking about Sterling and Max... i guess you'll have to wait and see! cuz honestly im not sure yet. I have a plan at the moment but we'll see how that goes..**

**so hopefully ill have another chapter up wednesday but im not promising anything... it depends on reviews (wink wink)**

**Thanks everybody who has reviewed... i love it! So please please please review Even little good jobs work... or if u hate it... go ahead and tell me! it all helps! plus it makes me write fast ;) teehee**

**Till Next Time**

**emz23hilski**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well heres the next chapter... hope u guys like it! thanks again for all the reviews!**

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"Bro just shut up." Iggy said and I mentally thanked him. "What time?" He said looking at me.

It took me a second to realize he was actually looking at me. "O My GOD!! IGGY YOU CAN SEE!!"

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"Um…yeah Max." Iggy rubbed the back of his head making his hair stick up in every direction while a small smirk played across his lips. "I got it back."

"How?" I asked cautiously, hoping he hadn't done anything stupid like go back to the school.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It just started coming back one color at a time."

_He would have had x-ray vision if he hadn't been blind, Max._

I jumped a little, surprised. I hadn't heard from my voice for a while now, I thought it was gone.

_Long time no see… err think voice. What's the occasion? _I thought sarcastically. I didn't get a response. Typical. My head started to pound and I winced and stiffened expecting a brain attack. Luckily it wasn't bad at all just a couple flashing pictures and a dull throb.

"What's wrong?" Sterling and Fang's voices said at once, neither one of them missing the fact that I jumped and winced.

"Nothing." I said loudly and then under my breath to Sterling added "Mini brain attack."

_Min brain attack?_ Sterling thought at me. I could practically see the gears turning in his head, as he wondered if the flock was connected to it.

_The voice is back. It surprised me. No biggie._ So what if I left stuff out? Honestly he was so overprotective. But it was… nice. Beside me Blade whimpered slightly and I picked him up. He was a little big to be held, but hey, he was my little angel baby. He got special treatment

I kind of under estimated the fact that Iggy has super sharp hearing, even for a bird kid, when I muttered my answer to Sterling.

"What?" Iggy asked his head tilted to one side, a habit he had when he was focusing on something.

"Huh?" I said innocently. "So same time tomorrow…" I began to ask trying to change the subject.

"Bull…" Iggy interrupted as he crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "You said something. Now what's really wrong?"

"I told you nothing Iggy. Leave it alone." I said, annoyed he wouldn't drop it.

"Oh get off it Max." Iggy said irritated. "I know something's wrong. And if we're" he gestured around to the rest of the flock. "staying here, I think we should know what's going on."

"Not to mention when we actually find you, you're shacking up with some blond." Fang muttered, just loud enough for me to hear. What was Fang's deal?

"Fang!" Gazzy said appalled as Nudge gasped.

"You Idiot." Iggy said shaking his head at the boy beside him. Angel stood looking at Fang with sad wide eyes.

"Excuse me?" I demanded. "I'm not shacking up. And let me remind you that you kicked me out. Don't even turn this and make it my fault." I turned around and stalked away. "I'm out of here. Guys lets go."

"Max wait." Nudge hurried after us followed closely by Gazzy and Angel.

"Sterling?" I asked looking over my shoulder and the three immediately fell over just like before. Nudge gasped again.

"Again? See you guys I wasn't lying before! It's like a wall only its not there and it keeps popping up! Does that even make any sense? I don't think it makes sense. O well you know what I mean? I told you I wasn't lying." Nudge rambled and I barely caught what she said.

Fang and Iggy stared at us suspiciously as we continued out of view. "Showtime!" Peak called excitedly before grabbing my hand. I kept my eyes closed and when I opened them we were back home.

"I need a break. I'll be back in a while." I said as I headed to the window.

Flying always relaxed me and I needed that right now. The sudden appearance of the flock had surprised me and brought back tons of memories and feelings I had been hiding from. Now they all came roaring back, stronger than ever. I flew with my eyes closed enjoying the wind blowing my hair, the stretch of my wings.

A beat of noise made me snap my eyes open as I saw a mob moving towards me. They were Flyboys, led by Ryder. Great, that's just what I needed right now.

I was way out numbered and was soon overtaken. But not before knocking out more than half their numbers. Soon enough though I was caught by about five Flyboys who were all working to restrain the struggling winged kid they were trying to kidnap—me.

"Sorry about this Max." Ryder said, not sounding sorry at all, as he put something under my nose. The last thing I saw were three figures streaking towards me as everything went black.

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**Hmmm... so its a little different but yea there it is.. hope u guys like it!**

**i have volleyball again tomorrow so i wont have the next chapter up for a couple days... sorry! but i promise to get it up as soon as i get it typed!**

**REVIEW por favor! Gracias! haha**

**emz23hilski**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Thanks for all your reviews!! i love them**

**Gabby510... ****haha thanks yea i won my game! go me! but the kid with black hair--im guessing you mean peak is not fangs... hes just some kid with black hair... i was going for something different than blond or brown...**

**SavingTheWorldMaxStyle... good guess! **

**so heres another chappie! enjoy**

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Max POV

I groaned and stirred slightly, trying to figure out why my bed was so uncomfortable. I cracked my eyes open slightly expecting to see Sterling beside me. I saw dirt and trees.

What the heck? Where was I? I racked my brain trying to figure out what was going on when I froze, it all rushed back to me at once.

My eyes widened and I sat straight up looking around. Ryder was leaning against a tree not to far away from me with a smirk on his face.

I tried to stand up but a wave of dizziness came over me, forcing me to stop and lean against a tree. I gritted my teeth and ignored the stars dancing in front of my face.

Where were Blade, Peak, and Sterling? I know I saw them before I passed out. I glared at Ryder and let out a low growl. If he so much as laid a finger on any of them, I swear I'd kill him.

"Where are they?"

"Hey sunshine, you're up." Ryder said completely ignoring my question. "How do you feel?"

"Like I want to kill the person who brought me here." I snarled angrily. His smirk widened.

"I think I like you when you're sleeping better. You're much prettier to look at and not so angry."

"Where are they?"

"Who?" For the moment Ryder looked completely confused.

"My family you idiot!" I shrieked stalking forward, my fists clenched.

Woah. Not a good idea. My vision tunneled quickly and the blackness seeped towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut willing the darkness to leave me alone. _No no no! _I had to stay conscious so I could figure out what was happening.

"I don't know." I heard him say vaguely. How could he not know! "Not here..."

The rest of his words became mush as darkness took over once again.

Sterling POV

After I got Blade and Peak to bed, I walked back out of the kitchen, thinking. Hopping out the window I flew to the top of the building and sat on the ledge. It was Max and my favorite spot to sit and talk. It was so empty without her.

_Flashback_

_The mass of Flyboys swarmed around Max and I sped forward, knowing the kids couldn't keep up with me. It didn't matter at the moment. Max needed me._

_My eyes narrowed and I pored on the speed as I saw Ryder appear beside her, saying something. The next thing I knew, I saw Max begin to fall out of the sky—probably unconscious. Ryder caught her and carried her back through the swarm of Flyboys and out of my sight._

_A growl erupted from my throat as I tore into the Flyboys. They dropped quickly but there were too many of them for me to go straight after Max. Even with Peak and Blade taking down the Flyboys, there were too many of them and by the time we had killed them or they had flown in different directions Max was gone._

_End Flashback_

It reminded me of the first time I'd met Max. She'd been fighting Ryder in the sky, completely alone, the same day she'd left the flock. Only I hadn't been able to save her this time.

She had been a mess. Tears running down her face, she was too upset to really put up a fight. After I showed up, Ryder flew away because he was outnumbered. I took Max to the shabby apartment I called home. It took forever for me to get Max to relax and trust me, but it happened.

Then we picked up Peak and Blade, after a little encouragement from her voice. And everything had been good.

Until her old flock had shown up and she'd been kidnapped.

Now, the best chance I had of getting Max back was to get her old flock to help. It wasn't my first choice, not by a long shot. But they knew how to get her out of the place better than I did.

I had searched the hotels nearby all day to see if anybody with the flock's description had checked in, but I couldn't find them anywhere.

I went everywhere I could think of that they could be. Of course, when they were actually needed they were no where to be found. That meant that we had to wait until morning to find them.

I went back inside, it was too empty on the roof without Max. Sitting on the couch, I stared at the blank TV not thinking much at all.

A creak from the hall made me turn my head. Peak and Blade were coming down the hall hand in hand, sad looks on their faces. "We couldn't sleep." Blade whispered as he crawled into my lap. Peak nodded and curled up beside me.

I froze for a second not sure what to do. Max was good at this stuff, not me. But Max wasn't here.

I hugged them tighter to me. "We'll find her. I promise." They fell asleep quickly although they always looked a little worried and sad.

They were up late enough that they slept into the morning until I woke them up. We headed to the meeting place a little early. We had to get going and find Max as soon as we could.

They showed up just like before, walking from deeper into the trees. We waited for them silently. I wasn't sure how they would react that Max wasn't with us.

As soon as their figures emerged I spoke. "We need your help."

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**So theres that... don't really like it.. i hate writing in guys POV sometime v difficult considering im a girl and i KNOW we females think differently... but anyway hope it wasnt too bad**

**so if you want another chapter... review!**

**hit the button... you know what to do ;)**

**emz23hilski**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! Thanks to all 13 of you people who listened and clicked the review button! ur awesome! so heres the next chappie... hope u enjoy it!

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******

"We need your help."

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Sterling POV

Fang ignored me, looking around the slight clearing. "Where's Max?"

"Not here, obviously." Peak muttered beside me. I felt the corner of my mouth hitch up slightly.

With bird hearing and all, Fang didn't have a problem hearing Peak. "Then we have no reason to be here." He said turning back to the trees.

"Fang, Wait!" Angel called out. "Where's she at?"

"Yeah? Why isn't she here?Did she get sick?Is that even possible? WE never got sick.Maybe it's because we're part bird.Huh.Do you think that's it?Wouldn't it be cool if we couldn't get sick you could like go out in the rain and snow and stuff and mmmppff…" Nudge rattled on until Iggy covered her mouth with his hand. Thank god. My ears probably would have started bleeding if he hadn't have shut her up.

"So where is Max?" Iggy asked carefully as he removed his hand from Nudge's face.

I sighed and tried to think of the best way to tell them. "I'm guessing the school." I said flatly.

"What!!" Fang turned and stalked towards me. "You let them take her?"

"No." It came out harsher than I thought it would, but what did they expect? I wasn't like them. I wouldn't just give her up. "After we got home yesterday she was upset," I shot a look at Fang "so she went to catch some air and relax. By the time Blade realized something was wrong…"

Confusion clouded their faces and I remembered they didn't know anything about us yet. "By the time we got there, Ryder had knocked out Max and there were too many Flyboys for us to take out quickly enough. Max and Ryder were gone by the time we finished them all off. We looked for you all yesterday. The best chance to get Max back is with your help."

I really didn't want to say that, but it was truth. If I wanted Max back, then I would have to ignore the fact that I didn't want anything to do with them. And when we got Max back, she would decide what was happening.

Everybody was silent for a second before Blade spoke. "So will you help us get my mom back?" His voice was so sad and hopeful, I don't think anybody could say no to him when he sounded like that.

"Of course!" Angel exclaimed at the same time Nudge shouted "You bet your life we'll help!Wait can you do that?Bet your life I mean?"

Iggy gave her a warning look and she shut up as he nodded. Gazzy stood a little taller and the determination was plain on his face. Fang looked emotionless, but since I'd seen him, Fang always looked emotionless.

"And you're planning to stay with us how?" Fang asked as he crossed his arms across his chest. Apparently they hadn't figured out we all had wings yet. Or they were just making sure.

"It should be easy enough," Peak grinned and I could tell he was just itching to show them what he could do. They would find out soon enough. I gave him a slight nod.

The next thing anybody knew he was standing directly across from Angel, 20 feet away from where he was a second ago. Angel's eyes got huge and she let out a short squeal and she jumped, startled. "Oh!"

"We have a few tricks too." Peak said lightly with a triumphant grin on his face.

"WOAH!!" Gazzy exclaimed loudly. He looked to the spot where Peak had been moments before and to where he was now. "Dude that was awesome!"

Nudge groaned loudly and I looked at her confused. "Why is it everybody gets the good stuff?I can't turn invisible or read minds or anything cool.I'm only magnetic,that's not as much fun.What can the rest of you do?I bet you have really cool powers too like Angel.She can breathe underwater and turn into things.Can you do that?That would be awesome!"

She finally stopped to take a breath and I bit back a laugh, that girl had a set of pipes on her.

"Well" Peak said getting all the attention again. "We have wings, does that count?" In a flash he was beside me again. The flock gasped when they realized Peak had moved again. Well not Fang, but I didn't expect anything from him except a bad attitude at times.

"No silly." Angel said.

_And why not?_ I asked in her head. Her eyes widened and she glanced at me confused. Winking, I thought at her, _I happen to think people with wings are pretty special._ She giggled and the rest of the flock looked at her funny.

_Can you read minds too?_ Her head was cocked to the side and she was watching me with a slight smile on her face.

_No. I can't read minds, but I can have conversations with people._ It wasn't as cool as her power, but it did come in pretty handy at times.

"Angel?" Iggy was watching her with a puzzled expression. He noticed so much more than the rest of the flock. "What's going on?"

His words snapped us out of our private conversation and Angel smiled innocently at him. "Nothing Iggy." He snorted in disbelief but dropped the subject.

_We'll talk later._ I thought at she nodded slightly at me

"If you guys will help us, we should get going as soon as possible. It's almost been a day." Fang opened his mouth but I cut him off. "We can talk on the way; we just need to get to Max. We can get stuff from our house. Max had a supply just in case anything happened."

Fang nodded. "Let's go."

We followed the flock to the spot where they had been taking off and landing for our meetings. The opening in the trees was slightly bigger than anywhere else and it was further from preying eyes.

On our way back to the apartment, Iggy spoke up. "You never did tell us exactly what your powers are." They all looked at me and I knew they wanted an answer.

"Well, I'm sure you've already noticed Peak can teleport places." I said with a slight smirk. "Blade can feel people's emotions. The closer the person is to him, the stronger they become. He's also pretty strong."

I paused letting this sink in. I had left out the part about Blade having scary accurate feelings. It was easier to explain when it actually happened.

"And you?" Nudge asked absorbed. It was the shortest sentence I had heard her utter yet.

"Well I can throw up force fields and shields. That's what you ran into yesterday. And I can move objects on will." I wondered if Angel would reveal I could have mind conversations.

"And that's it?" Iggy asked, not convinced I was telling the whole truth. "Angel?" He asked appealing to her.

"Why can't I get in your head?" She asked me, avoiding answering the question.

"Mind blocks. Max taught us. She thought it might come in handy one day." I explained.

"Huh. Well, they're all really good I can't get anything, especially Blade's." She looked at him and he smiled proudly.

"Mommy had me practice extra." He said shyly.

Max thought people might target him since he was so much younger than Peak, her, and I. She made sure he could take care of himself.

We got to the apartment and I flew in the window and everybody crowded in after me. It wasn't a huge apartment in the first place but there was plenty of room for four people. But adding five to that, even if Max was missing, it seemed super crowded.

Soon after we got there, Iggy, Nudge, and Gazzy went back to their camp to get their stuff. God knows where they're staying since we went to all the hotels yesterday.

"Blade, can you go get the backpack from your and Peak's room?" I asked then turned to Peak. "And you go get the one out of Max and mine's closet." He nodded and walked to my room, Angel on his heels. I watched them disappear into the room and shook my head.

I turned and started to pile out some of the food onto the tables. I noticed Fang staring at me, a tight somewhat angry expression on his face. "What?" I asked.

If he didn't like the fact that Max and I shared a room, he could get over it. It's not like he never shared with Max when they were on the run. It was the same thing, only we stayed in the same place all the time.

He shook his head and said nothing. That was getting annoying already.

Blade came back out dragging a navy blue backpack that had a few items of clothing in it. "Thanks bud."

Angel came back out a second later with something in her hands. "Sterling?"

"Yeah Angel?" I looked up at her.

"Are you and Max boyfriend and girlfriend?" Fang choked beside me and I glanced at him. His face was slightly pink.

"Umm…" I started to reply but Blade spoke up from the chair he sat on.

"Yes." He replied confidently. "They act like their not, but I can tell." I frowned at him slightly and shook my head as I zipped up the bags.

"Blade, you don't know what you're talking about." I said as I walked to the window. "Ready guys?"

"Yes huh. I can feel it." He replied stubbornly as he jumped out the window, spreading his golden wings and disappearing from sight.

"He's right you know." Peak said before jumping out the window after Blade. Angel was close behind him, and Fang after her. I was last to leave and shut the window.

We met the others and started towards the school. At last we were coming to get you Max. Just hold on.

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**Okay, so i hope you liked it. we're going to try something a little different so just hang in there okay? I have most of the next chapter written and im going to put it up when a) i've gotten 10 more reviews or b)next weekend. So you get to choose!**

**emz**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hmmm... Chapter HOlder Ransomer? lol... i like it confuzzle bug**

**so here it is as promised...**

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Max POV

I opened my eyes slowly and winced as the bright lights came as a shock to my eyes. My head throbbed and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for them to adjust to the lightening. The smell was the first thing I noticed. I was back at the school.

When I finally could see straight I looked around. I was in a small room, instead of a dog crate. At least they decided I was important enough for an upgrade. I was lying on a hard twin sized cot that had a yellowish blanket at the foot of it.

The only other things in the room were another cot with a blanket and a small table at the end of the room. The door was windowless and looked pretty thick.

My ears perked as I heard two voices arguing. I stood, ignoring the wave of dizziness, and walked to the door.

"No. I'm done with this. I met my side of the deal. Where is Tally?" The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it.

"You're not done yet. There's been a change of plans." Another voice said calmly.

"I'm not doing anything else for you. Let me have my sister back!" The first voice yelled.

"No. Now quit causing problems or we might have to make some adjustments to the lab schedule." The second voice threatened.

"Just leave her alone." Who were they talking about? It couldn't be me because there was no one at the school who would try to protect me. I didn't need anyone's protection anyway. I am Maximum Ride. I can take care of myself.

"If you cooperate, nothing more will happen to her. We'll get you later with further instructions."

"Wait what? Hey! Let me go!" There was a scuffle outside the door and it swung open quickly. A shape came into the room and was roughly pushed to the floor as the door quickly shut again. I guess I was getting a roommate.

The figure groaned and stood up facing away from me, but I recognized the coppery hair anywhere. Oh Heck NO. But if it was who I thought it was, who was he talking about? I didn't know he had a sister. My mind raced as I tried to figure out what was going on.

Ryder turned around slowly, running a hand through his hair. "Hey Max." His voice wasn't like anything I'd heard him use before. His arrogant confidence was gone and in its place was a tired defeated tone. His eyes were dull and sad.

"What's going on?" I demanded, sure this new side of Ryder was a part of some plan they had against me. I mean, come one. They were arguing right outside my door, so I was probably meant to here it. Maybe. But they still thought I was unconscious right? My head hurt thinking of all the possible things that could be happening.

He didn't say anything. Instead he went to the other cot and sat down, putting his head in his hand.

Oh no. He was not going to just ignore me. He was telling me what was happening if I had to beat it out of him. "What. Is. Going. On." I ground out in a low voice as I stood in front of him, my arms crossed in front of my chest.

He looked up at him slowly, his hair falling partly in his eyes. "It's a long story." He said reluctantly.

I looked around the room and spread my arms with a dry laugh. "Well good thing it looks like we're stuck in this place for a while."

He sighed and dropped his head in his hands again when he saw I wasn't letting it go. I sat back down on the stupid, really uncomfortable cot.

"Long story short they are blackmailing me to do what they want. They have my sister, Tally, and when I don't do what they want, they…" he trailed off for a moment. "You know what they do."

"So I have to block everything out and just do what they want. Tally's the only thing I have left and I can't let them hurt her. They promised that after I got you here, they would let the both of us go. But.."

"They won't let you go now." I finished for him quietly. I understood his position perfectly. It was kind of the same deal I did for the flock before they kicked me out. I just wanted to do anything I could for them so they wouldn't get hurt. I would do the same thing now. Even though I was completely destroyed when they kicked me out, I still cared about them even if I didn't act like it.

"Yeah." He said sadly.

I was about to say something when the door burst open, revealing a white coat with a huge man flanking him. "Maximum Ride." He said looking at the clipboard he held in one hand. "You're coming with me."

"Umm… I don't think so." I said standing and planting my hands on my hips. The big guy walked toward me and tensed to fighting stance.

I heard Ryder groan 'oh max' and I looked at him quickly. My one moment's distraction was enough. The big guy grabbed me and let me tell you this guy was strong! I couldn't slip out of his grasp, no matter how hard I tried. He threw me over his shoulder and proceeded to carry me out of the room, kicking and screaming the whole way.

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**Hmm.. definately not my favorite but I had to throw it in there. I couldn't stand Ryder being so evil for no reason, plus it kinda had to happen to go on with my story... i guess...lol.. idk**

**so hope you like it more than i do review and let me know!**

**same deal plus a little... how about 12 reviews before i update next? or next week? its up to you! ****you know what to do!**

**YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!**

**emz23hilski**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks everybody who reviewed! U ppl who didn't review should be thanking them cuz they got you another chapter up! lol**

**I'm pretty sure you can all figure it out by yourself, but just in case you confuse me with the real deal, I am not JP. I don't own Max or any of the flock. I wish i did, but sadly its not true. I do own the other characters tho!**

**Okay people so heres the next chapter… enjoy!**

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Angel POV

Tilting my wings, I crossed the invisible line and flew over to Sterling. I'd had enough. We had been flying for over and hour and hardly anybody had muttered two words. Even Nudge! Sterling, Peak, and Blade were flying slightly to the side of the flock and it bothered me. We were all going to save Max so we had to work together.

Fang threw me a look over his shoulder when I flew to Sterling, but I ignored him. Taking my cue, Blade flew to where I had just been, which was next to Nudge.

"Hi." He said simply in the cutest voice imaginable. Nudge squealed and started fussing over him and I smiled, knowing Nudge had been itching for a chance to talk to Blade.

"Hey Angel." Sterling said as he glanced at me.

"You promised." I said reminding him that he said we would talk later. Fang's back stiffened and I knew he was wondering what I was talking about.

Sterling sighed. _What do you want to know?_ He asked in my head.

_Why didn't you tell Fang you talk to people in their heads?_ I demanded. I had avoided answering the question earlier when Fang asked me if it was all. I better have had a good reason.

_Why didn't you tell him? _He asked ignoring my question.

_If you didn't say anything I thought it might be important. Max obviously trusted you, so I don't see why I can't._ That was the difference between Fang and me. He was suspicious of everybody.

I looked at Sterling to see his face clouded. His hands were clenched and his jaw tight. Max. He was more upset than he let on that she was gone.

"Ummm… guys?" Iggy called out so everyone could hear. "We got a problem." I looked around and saw a speck of black in the distance. Why had I not picked up on them earlier? I scolded myself, I should have been paying more attention.

"We got Flyboys."

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Max POV

What was this guy? I'm no weak teenage girl and he wasn't even flinching at all the kicks and punches I was throwing at him. He was like the Hulk or something. As soon as I realized I was doing no good struggling I stopped.

My captor looked at me with raised eyebrows and grunted when I stopped struggling. I frowned.

"You want to put me down now? I stopped struggling." I asked, knowing unless this guy was a complete idiot it was never going to happen. But knowing the whitecoats, you never know how stupid their cronies will be, so why not try.

I propped my elbows up on his back so I could see him better and wasn't bouncing off his shoulders with every step he took. He was smirking. "Nope." His voice was deep and confident. Apparently he hadn't heard the stories of Maximum Ride, otherwise he would have been a little more cautious.

"Hmmmppphh." I huffed. "So where are you taking me?" I asked. We had went down to many hallways and taken too many turns for me to remember what way we were going.

"To get some tests." Honestly did he really think I didn't get that part?

"No freaking duh, Sherlock. I got that much figured out by myself thanks." His shoulders rumbled as he chuckled at my response, but he didn't say anything.

He walked to an open door way and stopped. I tried looking over my shoulder, but as soon as I did, he turned to the side, whacking my head on the side of the door.

Gritting my teeth, I ignored the stars dancing in front of my eyes and growled at him. He shrugged me off his shoulder and dumped me unceremoniously on the ground. I was up in a second, glaring at him.

Before I had time to react a whitecoat slipped a cold metal cuff around my wrist. With a roar, I spun around and shoved the guy hard in the chest sending him flying across the room and landing in a hump on the floor.

"Maximum! Calm down!" A whitecoat shouted and I lunged at him, determined to do as much damage as possible. Before I reached him, a shock coursed up my arm and through me and I collapsed on the floor, growling half heartedly.

"I warned you Maximum." The whitecoat said, though his eyes shone with fear and I could see his hands shaking slightly. I got up slowly, trying to shake off the shock that still tingled slightly.

_That was smart_ the voice said in my head. _You might not want to do that again._

_Why is it you show up at the WORST times?_ I shot back, not expecting a response.

_It's at the worst times you need help._

_Ok, _I said sarcastically, mentally rolling my eyes at the voice._ Since you're helping so much now. _

_Maximum. Now is not the time._ I thought I detected the tiniest hint of annoyance the voice.

_So what is it time for then? _I asked sarcastically.

_Pay attention!_

_What??_ What was I supposed to pay attention to?

_MAXIMUM!_

A second too late I figured out what the voice was going on about. Another shock shot through me, but this time I was ready enough to stay on my feet.

All the whitecoats in the room were looking at me and one of them stepped forward nervously. I glared at him, but didn't move.

Contrary to what some people think, I'm not stupid. I knew I would just get shocked again if I tried anything. Heck, who knew? They might do it again just for fun.

"Okay." The whitecoat let out a big breath of air before continuing. His clipboard was shaking slightly in his hands. Was I really that scary? Good. I felt a smirk flicker across my face and the whitecoat began to stutter.

"E-experiment we have some tests for y-you. I-If you cooperate, w-we won't hurt you."

I snorted in disbelief. Yeah right. How many times had I heard that one? I clamped my mouth shut even though I was dying to fire a comment back at them.

The big hulk guy came up behind me, grabbing my arm and steering me after the whitecoats who had gone through another door. I went willingly enough, there wasn't much I could do when I had the shocker thing attached to my wrist.

We passed an opened door and I looked in to see a girl around my age with wild red ringlets hooked to a machine. She had a pair of creamy colored wings extending from her back. Before I could see anything else, Hulk guy jerked me roughly away from the door and I realized I had stopped.

"Jeez. Yank my arm off why don't you?" I muttered under my breath as he shoved me into another room.

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Fang POV

"We got flyboys." Iggy yelled out.

"Guys, you know what to do." I called, ignoring the three new additions to our group. Iggy and Gazzy flew to the left while Angel and Nudge went right.

"Peak and Blade stick together." I heard Sterling tell the two boys. Was he seriously letting a five year old into the fight? Max would kill that idiot when she found out.

"Peanut Butter!" Blade shrieked and he and Peak high-fived each other. What were they talking about?

Ignoring them, I shot forward to meet the mass coming towards us. Peak and Blade appeared right in front of the Flyboys and for a moment I forgot that Peak could teleport.

They had taken out several Flyboys before I reached them. Peak would move them and Blade would hit them. Normally a five year old wouldn't do any damage, but Blade had the little secret called super strength on his side.

Ignoring them, I flew into the mass, lashing out with all I had. It felt good to finally take out all my anger on something. I had other targets I'd like to be hitting just as well, but I don't think anybody would react well to that.

With three more people than usual and the Peak and Blade tag team, the Flyboy's numbered dwindled faster than usual, and soon there were only a couple left.

I slammed a last kick into a Flyboy's chest and he shot backwards and collided with another flyboy that had been sent by Sterling then both blew up when Iggy chucked a share bomb at them.

Looking around I saw Blade and Peak finish off one last Flyboy as the ones still intact wisely flew away. "Report" I yelled.

"I'm good." Iggy said, winding up and throwing something at the back of a retreating Flyboy. It exploded into a fireball and he grinned.

"Nice shot!" That would be Gazzy.

"Woah, Peak that was so cool.I wish I could do that, then I'd just go and zip Max out of the school and nobody would know the difference!That would be so mmppphh.." Angel's hand shot up over Nudge's mouth and she smiled at me.

"I'm fine." She looked meaningfully over at Sterling, Blade, and Peak and I slowly looked at them.

"How about you guys?" I asked.

Sterling nodded. "We're fine, but we're going to need to rest, Peak is worn out."

"Why?" Gazzy asked honestly confused.

"The more he teleports the more energy he uses. Since, he had Blade with him, it used even more." Sterling turned to Nudge. "That's why he just can't take us to the school and get Max out. It's too far away and there's too many of us."

"I'm fine." Peak said stubbornly. His stomach growled and he looked up. "Well, I am a little hungry."

"Ohh!!Can we stop and eat some of our food?Please Fang?I'm hungry too!" Nudge spoke rapidly, turning her Bambi eyes on me.

"Sure." I shrugged. It was impossible to resist those eyes. We headed towards the ground and soon after we landed, I noticed Peak leaning against Sterling.

I passed out food from the bags and everybody went separate ways. Peak curled up on the ground using one of the bags as a pillow. Angel and Nudge pulled Blade into the trees somewhere, giggling the whole way. Iggy and Gazzy slunk off together, probably to restore their explosive supply. That left me and Sterling. Great.

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**Okay so thanks to Fightingrose, kashiena, philokiller, SavingTheWorldMaxStyle, lorenzoman, katiexmariex101, Skittle.Rocker, MidnightBlueSun, totaltheTERRIER, aclamon95, stab.me.and.i.will.be.your.bff, and powerkitty, for reviewing last chapter. You guys are the best!**

**I decided its really hard to write for the younger ppl in the story and Fang. It just doesn't seem young enough or Fangish enough. O well. WOOO!!2,009 words! haha thats counts these author note thingys but i dont really care cuz i still think its a lot! I tried to make this chapter a little bit longer cuz i was asked to cough coughpowerkitty cough coughand i think its the longest one so far, but i dont really remember. Anyway hope its ok.**

**REVIEW ppl! it will get you another chapter sooner cuz it makes me write faster. so hit that little button down there! you know you want to! lol remember to review ;)**

**emz23hilski**


	10. Chapter 10

**First of all im so sorry its taken so long for me to get this chapter up... please don't hate me! It's been the craziest two weeks ever and my computer decided it hated me so it only lets me work on this when it feels like it... LAME! Anyway, i couldn't decide how i wanted this conversation between Fang and Sterling go and i think i re-wrote it about ten times before deciding to put it up and hope it okay. And again I'm sorry it has taken so long!**

**And some of you guys keep asking why Blade calls Max and Sterling Mom and Dad. He's five and was even littler when they found him. Max has always been motherly toward the kids in the flock, so shes still kind of the same. She and Sterling are the closest thing Blade has to parents, so that's what he calls them sometimes when he's really mad or sad or something. He's still a just a little kid. Sorry for the confusion!**

**emz23hilski (aka me) doesn't own anything you people are familiar with. Such as the flock. Or the School. Or the erasers. Or any of the good stuff. BUT.. Sterling, Blade, Peak, and any other random characters you meet that aren't in JP's fabulous books... they are mine.**

**But enough chit chat… So here's what I ended up with and hope its okay! (Sorry all that was so long!)**

Sterling POV

I sat on the ground next to Peak and watched him as he passed out in about 2 seconds flat. I shook my head. He had over done it when we were fighting erasers. Again. He loved showing off his powers, and he hadn't gotten to since Max found him and that was a little over three years ago. So of course now that there were newbies he had to go overboard.

I looked and noticed that everybody had disappeared except for Fang, who was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a scowl sketched across his face. He obviously wasn't too happy with the situation. Join the club bud.

"How long is it going to take us to get there?" I asked breaking the silence.

* * *

The scowl was slowly vanished from his face, replaced by a blank look of emotion. He looked at me a second before answering. "The morning after tomorrow if we stop tonight and tomorrow." He said simply.

"That long?" I murmured disappointed. I was hoping we could get there sooner than that. After a while Max had told me all about the school and I really didn't want her being there.

Fang nodded briefly. " Ig and I would be faster. But its to hard on the everybody else." I ignored the swipe. "Any plan?"

I shrugged. "Get in, find Max, get out." Okay, not really a plan, but they were guidelines right? thats better than nothing. _There's always a plan_Max's voice ran through my head. She said that all the time, even if she just BSed her way through it.

Fang snorted a laugh. "Getting out will be the hardest part."

"You're speaking from experience, huh?" I already knew the answer so i continued without really giving him a chance to speak. "But you've never had Peak with you. He's got a permanent get-out-of-jail-free-card."

His eyebrows rose. More like went up a fraction of a millimeter, if that. "So we have an easy in."

I shook my head. "No. He can only go somewhere he's seen. Once we're in, we got a quick out, but the getting in part is up to us." My words drifted off as Fang nodded but didn't respond. He sunk down and sat at the base of the tree he had been leaning on. At least he didn't seem as pissed off as before. There was no way I could stand the guy if he was going to be in a pissy mood all the time.

"How was she?" He asked queitly, his voice harsh against the silence that had surrounded us.

"Huh?" I asked confused. How was she when?

"When she..." He stopped and frowned slightly. "When you found her." He amended, his voice raw with pain.

"Oh." I paused thinking about what to tell him. I wasn't going to lie, but how much would Max want him to know? "It wasn't pretty." He winced slightly at the memory.

"The first time I saw Max she and Ryder were facing off in the sky. She was a mess and was to upset to really put up much of a fight. He took off once I got there, so I took Max back to my shabby apartment. Once she calmed down, it took me forever to convince her I didn't work for the school." I smiled slightly as I remembered all the things she said to me. "She was so quiet and it just really tore her up." I looked at Fang to see him staring at the ground, but i could tell he was listening.

"God, she was so stubborn," I said shaking my head with a soft chuckle. "It took forever before she trusted me and started acting more..." I paused looking for the right word to describe Max. "normal. Once in a while someone will say something or do something and you can tell she thinks about you guys. But she covers it well. She hates being weak and letting Blade know how she feels." I trailed off, not knowing what else to say. That summed up everything he needed to know.

Fang nodded but didn't say anything. It was silent with tension for a few moments before a huge BOOM sounded and echoed through my ear drums. Peak shot straight up from his nap and looked around quickly. Seeing nothing around he lay back down and promptly dozed off again.

Fang groaned and shook his head. "Iggy and Gazzy." Two dark figures came flying out of the dark plume of smoke, and as they got closer I could hear them laughing and talking excitedly. They were covered in black soot.

"Dude! You missed it Fang, that was the best one yet!" He yelled excited. Then he stopped and thought about it. "Well, it was pretty close at least. The oil-slick-hummer-crash and mickey mouse bomb were the best."

"Ugg!!" Iggy groaned. "Of course my best work had to happen when i couldn't freaking see." He grumbled.

I heard someone burst into a fit of giggles behind me and looked over my shoulder. Blade was skipping towards us with a smile and Nudge and Angel were right behind him. He stopped and looked at soot covered Iggy and Gazzy for a second. He shrugged, apparently not finding the two boys appearance worth questioning.

"Can we go now?" He asked me, green eyes wide.

I looked at Fang and he shrugged. "If everyone else is ready and you can wake Peak up." Blade frowned at Peak's sleeping form.

He huffed and went over to Peak, poking him lightly in the side. I rolled my eyes. There was no way Peak was going to get up to that. He never got out of bed easily unless Max was the one waking him up. Problem was, Max wasn't there to help. Blade poked him a little harder this time. "Wake up Peak."

Peak moved away slightly, but didn't wake up. "Wake up!" BLade shouted, stomping his foot. Needless to say, that didn't work either. Finally Blade gave up trying to be nice and jumped on him, smacking his cheeks and jamming his fingers into Peak's side again. Probably harder than necessary.

"Blade!" Peak groaned and pushed Blade off him, who just rolled away with a triumphant smile on his face. "You didn't have to do it so hard!" He whined, rubbing his eyes and grumbling to himself.

"You wouldn't wake up." Blade said stubbornly. He turned to me. "Can we go now?"

* * *

Max POV

The whitecoats unhooked all the wires they had attached to me. Maybe they were finally done. I don't know how long they had been running tests on me. It seemed like forever. Whenever they thought I could go more or I wasn't cooperating another shock ran up my arm. I ended up doing what they wanted for the time being because I was only hurting myself by resisting.

I was so tired and just wanted to lay down and sleep, but I stayed as alert as I could. Always looking for when they finally made a tiny slip up and I had time to get away. But they were being more careful then they usually were.

"Take Maximum back to her cell." A white coat said, his head ducked as he typed furiously on the computer. I snarled half heartedly at him, it was to much effort. He looked at me quickly, pushing his glasses up on his nose and mumbling something under his breath before turning back to his screen. "worthless... experiment... stupid." Was all i could pick out.

The Hulk guy grabbed my arm and half pushed half dragged me towards the door. "I can walk by myself." I grumbled as I shook his arm off. He let go but stayed right behind me.

We passed some of the same doors as before and I walked obediently until i found the door I was looking for. I darted inside and slammed the door closed, catching the Hulk off guard. I held my breath praying I had remembered the right door and hoping she was still there. My breath came out in a whoosh as I saw the red headed girl, standing in the middle of the room only one whitecoat there.

His back was facing me so i whacked him in the head, knocking him out. He crumpled to the floor as she looked at me with wide eyes. "Wha-- Who are you?" She asked confused. I grabbed her arm and ran through another door hoping it wasn't a dead end. The door crashed down behind us and the Hulk stumbled through, a murderous look on his face.

"Why you little--" I didn't wait long enough to see what he was going to say. Adrenaline pumped through me, giving me energy I didn't have before.

"I'm Max." I explained quickly as we ran. "I know your brother." I said hoping that she was indeed Ryder's sister. They both had red hair and wings, so i was taking a wild guess. "I'm getting you out of here."

She didn't say anything, so I assumed my guess was right. We ran through another door and into the hallway. "You know the way out?" I asked.

"This way!" She called before taking off to the right. I was right behind her. A couple white coats burst through another door into the hallway and i looked over my shoulder at them. When I turned back around I saw the Hulk had the red-headed girl. I ran smack into them, having no time to slow down, taking us all down. His grip on the girl loosened and she squirmed away before pausing and looking at me.

"Go!" I yelled, scrambling to get up. A huge shock ran through me and I collapsed on the floor. I struggled to get up but the adrenaline was fading and I had no energy left. At least the girl would get away. Hopefully. Something knocked me in the head and darkness sourounded me and I was thankful it was finally over.

* * *

**I know that Fang and Sterling's conversation wasn't very long but i really didn't know what to make them say. & Fang is a little different so lets just say him having to be leader after Max was gone changed him. Deal? So was it okay? a hit? hopefully not a miss? Please help me out and tell me! Y'all reviewers realize this story is still going cuz of you guys! Right?**

**Okay people here's the deal…I no the chapters are kind of short and I'm going to try to start making the chapters a little longer then they usually are, so there will probably be a little more time between updates… I'll get them up as soon as i can, but i cant promise anything!**

**Thanks everybody for your reviews… We've passed the big ONE OH OH! mark! Woot! woot! Go team! That's way more than I ever expected to get… Thanks and Keep it up people! So now you know what to do... go hit the little review button, i think i hear it calling your name. Listens Yep... it definitely is... You know you want to ;)**

**emz23hilski**


	11. Chapter 11

**Wow its been awhile since I've updated. Sorry about that everybody! its been crazy... w/ volleyball sectionals, and all the homework my teachers think they need to assign, and just other random stuff but no more excuses! heres the next chapter.. hope you like it!**

Max POV

When I woke up, I was back in the cell-like room from before. My head was throbbing and it felt like it was going to explode. It wasn't the same as a brain attack, but it hurt just as bad.

Sitting up slowly from the cot I was on, I rubbed my temples slowly trying to remember why I had such a bad headache. Opening my eyes I saw Ryder stretched out on the cot across the room.

Oh Yeah. I was at the school again and had already managed to get knocked out before being there a full day. I think that was a record for me. They usually just locked me in a room and ignored me for a couple of days.

I swung my legs over the edge of the cot and stood up, stretching—trying to loosen up my sore body. That cot was so uncomfortable. Back in the day I was used to sleeping on the ground, in subways, where ever really. But for the past couple years I've slept in a nice soft squishy bed, and the cot- that had a couple springs poking at me- made me miss that bed a whole lot more than I thought I ever would.

I turned around to see Ryder watching me curiously. "How do you feel?" He asked. Defiantly not the first question I expected to come out of his mouth.

"I've been worse." I said, rubbing the back of my head. My finger passed over a bump and I winced and immediately jerked my fingers away.

Ryder nodded and rested his hands on the back of his head. He looked like he was being arrested or something. "So what did you do? That guy was pretty pissed off when he brought you back here. He just dumped you on the floor and left."

I thought about that for a second. I'd woken up on the cot. Ryder must have put me there. "Have they said anything to you?" I asked, immediately wondering if the girl had gotten free. Hopefully she had enough time to get out. Maybe she would meet the flock or Fang & co.

"No." Ryder asked confused. "Why?"

I hesitated, not sure how to tell him. "Well, Ikindahelpedbreakoutagrildandithinkitmighthavebeenyoursisterbutimnotsureandidontknowifshegotawayornot." I said really fast. Wow. I always wondered how Nudge could talk that fast, apparently I could too.

"Say that again," Ryder said with raised eyebrows. "Slower this time."

I took a breath. "Umm... well I kind of tried to break out from this place with a girl I found." His eyes widened. "But I'm not sure if she got out or not. They caught me and knocked me out, but they hadn't got her yet. And I wanted to know if they said anything to you because... well because I think she might have been your sister?"

His hands dropped to his sides and his mouth dropped open slightly as he sat there stunned for a second. He shook his head and snapped out of his stupor. "What was her name? He asked quickly.

I grimaced. "Umm... I didn't really have time to find out. I just kind of grabbed her and..."

He rolled his eyes with a sigh interrupting me. "So then what did she look like? You can't just say you think it was my sister and not tell me why you think that. So just spit it out!" He said urgently as he sat on the edge of the cot staring at me with narrowed eyes. If I hadn't dealt with so many erasers and Flyboys over the years, I probably would have been scared.

I scowled, annoyed he had interrupted me. I was _trying_ to tell him what happened. "If you would just shut up, I could tell you!" I growled, crossing my arms over my chest. He pressed his lips together and I sighed. I guess he just wanted to know if his sister might have escaped or not.

"She had long curly red hair and was pretty pale. She was shorter than me, probably like 5'5''' or something." I paused thinking of the little things I had noticed that would help describe her. "Really dark eyes and freckles across her face. Creamy colored wings." Ryder's eyes got bigger and bigger every time I said something. "She had and small white scar on the right side of her nose, but it wasn't really that noticeable. I told her I knew her brother and she went with it, so I kind guessed that she was your sister. Does that sound right?"

His eyes were huge as he nodded. "That's Tally. Tell me exactly what happened. I need to know everything." He demanded leaning even further over, his elbows on his knees.

"I already told you all of it pretty much." I replied annoyed. It didn't really last very long and I didn't know if she got away or not on account of me being knocked out and all. "I got away, found your sister, tried to get away, got caught, knocked out, and then woke up here. The end."

Ryder opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "Look. That's really all I know. Sorry if it's not what you wanted, but its going to have to work." I lay down on the cot and turned so my back was facing him.

I was exhausted from everything that had happened and I just wanted to lie down and fall asleep. Then I would be able to forget everything, and pretend I was still with Sterling, Blade, and Peak. God I missed them so much.

Not wanting to cry, I forced myself to think about other things. Tally. I hoped she got away okay. If she didn't she would get punished and that would be my fault.

The door flew open and I rolled over and saw my buddy the Hulk standing in the doorway. "You're awake. Let's go."

I rolled my eyes, but didn't move. "No. Actually I'm asleep with my eyes open and I tend to sleep talk." I muttered sarcastically. Ryder shot a small grin at me, but the Hulk guy was fuming as he stormed into the room.

He grabbed my arm and yanked me off the cot and to my feet. God that hurt! Did he really have to hold on so tight? It felt like he was trying to rip my arm off. I stumbled after him as he pulled me from the room.

"You're in so much trouble." He growled as he jerked me around another corner, my arm screaming in pain. "Experiment xkj39z41 got away and you are going to pay." I winced, not at all thrilled that I was 'going to pay' but was glad to hear Tally had gotten out.

That made it worth it. If I got somebody out of the school and got punished in the process that was fine. I would do it again. Of course it would be nice if I was the one who got out, but if I couldn't might as well give somebody else the chance.

I was dragged around another corner and thrown into small empty room. Picking myself up off the floor I looked around. I was in a small white room even worse from the room I had been in before. It was completely bare except for a yellowish blanket that lay crumpled in a corner. I sunk down the wall into a ball and rested my head in my hands, waiting whatever they had in store for me next.

Tally POV **(A/N: In case you're confused, she's Ryder's sister.)**

I shivered as the cold night air whopped around me. Pulling my wings in a protective shield around me, I tried to figure out what to do next.

That girl who had helped me escape—she was still in there. I had to help her since she got me out. And she said she knew my brother. Maybe she knew where he was.

I was still pretty close to the school. After the girl had been knocked out, I had escaped somehow. I'd been there long enough I knew my way around pretty well, and I had planned escape routes before. Even though I didn't think I would ever get a chance to use them.

I hid in the woods nearby. They were looking for me; there were helicopters with spotlights and Flyboys scanning the night sky. It was just pure luck they hadn't found me. Once in a while I would see a search light, but for the most part I was completely alone.

I shivered at the thought. Usually when I was allowed outside there was always a bunch of Flyboys swarmed around me, poised for action. And I had that stupid collar on that they used to shock me when I didn't do what they wanted. It was just so different.

I wondered where Ryder was. The white coats always told me he was working for them now, but I never believed them. He wasn't like that. At least I hoped not. I saw him every once in a while, but we never really got to talk.

Maybe if I could find the girl who helped me escape, we could go find him. If she knew him, maybe she knew where he was, or at least how to get to him. I sighed. How was I ever going to help her out of the school? I wrapped my wings tighter to me and thought about it until I drifted off to sleep.

Fang POV

We were making much better time than I thought we would. I had counted extra hours because I figured Blade would slow us down, but he had been at the lead of the pack the whole time telling us to hurry up.

At the rate we were going, we would get there sometime tomorrow. I knew we would have to stop sometime tonight, but I really doubted if we would stop for very long. Just long enough for everybody to get a couple hours of sleep and we would be off again.

Behind me Angel giggled and I saw her and Peak grinning at each other. Sterling smirked slightly and shook his head. He knew something I didn't.

I had to figure out what was going on with that guy. I knew there was something about him that he wasn't telling us and I needed to know what it was. I had the feeling that Angel knew something, but she wasn't saying anything about it. It couldn't be that dangerous or anything if she hadn't warned me. I shook the thought out of my mind and thought about Max.

What would she do when we got her away from the school? I really hoped that she would come back with the flock, but judging on how she had reacted when we showed up, it didn't seem like a likely possibility. She saw pretty attached to her new 'flock'. But maybe all of us could stick together. Angel and Peak were getting along really well, and I could see how excited Nudge was to have a little kid to fuss over. Sterling wouldn't seem so bad if I could figure out what was going on between Max in him.

Whatever did happen though, I guess it was my fault. I was an idiot. How did I ever believe that Max would betray us? Of course she wouldn't her whole life was the flock. And I had taken it away from her. No wonder she hated me.

Looking around I saw Gazzy stifle a yawn. It was pretty late, we had been flying all day. We needed some sleep.

"Hey guys. What do you say about stopping for a while?" I called out.

"No! We can't!" Blade said stubbornly. How did that kid manage? He was years younger than everybody else, yet it seemed to be affecting him the least. "We have to save Max."

Nobody else said anything and I could tell they wanted to stop. They just didn't want to say it. I looked at Sterling, hoping he would get the point.

He flew up beside Blade. "Look buddy. We got to get some rest sometime, and if we stop now we won't have to later. Everybody's tired." Blade's face set in determination not to show he was tired. "I_ know _you are tired even if you're pretending not to be." Blade's face fell slightly and he nodded.

"Fine." He pouted.

We flew a while longer before stopping at a cheap hotel. If we wanted to be running on full throttle tomorrow, might as well sleep in a soft bed.

**So I know that Fang and Tallys POV are pretty much worthless, but somehow I wanted to put in that Tally got away and I wanted to speed up the story a bit cuz i didn't know what to write. So yea.**

**So if you got this far, could you push the little review button and tell me what you think? that would help me bunches! Thanks to everybody who has reviewed, you guys are great!**

**emz23hilski**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey sorry guys it took soooooo long. And I didn't stop writing the story, I had other things going on. Then got a new story idea and had to start that and forgot to update this one. But yea yea u don't want to hear it… anyway… I really am sorry and am going to try to finish this up soon… theres not much left! Maybe a chapter or two? Probably one, but I haven't decided yet. Thanks to everybody who review and those of you who put up with my lack of time management skills and are reading this. :) **

**ONWARD!!**

**Max POV**

Nobody came for me. I thought this would just be a holding room, but I had heard nothing since my buddy the hulk threw me in here. Maybe it was my new 'home'. It wasn't as nice as the room I had been in earlier with Ryder—and even that room was pathetic. But at least it was way better than a cage. Apparently they had upped their standards. I was impressed. Note the sarcasm.

There were no windows and I had been knocked out twice—for who knows how long each time. I had no way of knowing how long I had been there. All I knew was I was extremely hungry and hadn't eaten since I was with my flock.

God- if they did anything stupid I would kill them. But knowing them, they would try something. Maybe my old flock would help them. There would be more people that way and less of a chance that someone could get hurt. Even as much as I tried to convince myself that I didn't care, there was no way I wanted my old flock to get hurt. If anything I happened to any of them I would never forgive myself.

I tried not to think about it, instead planning on how I could get out of this place. My scheming didn't last long. My body was exhausted and not in the best shape from the experiments and the fight I had put up not to get captured. They hadn't treated any of my injuries and my head seriously felt like it was going to explode. My eyes drifted shut no matter how much I tried to keep them open.

When I woke up sometime later, I was freezing. My arms were covered in goose bumps and I bit my lip in order to keep my teeth from chattering. I remembered the yellowish blanket and looked at it. It was a disgusting color and who knew how long it had been since it had been washed. The though repulsed me. But hey, city life can do that to a girl. For the last four years I had enjoyed the luxuries of life not on the run that I had never gotten before.

Deciding that freezing to death was a worse way to go than using something the School had so generously provided, I stretched my legs to get up. They were so sore and didn't want to listen to what I told them to do. I forced myself up, one knee buckling under me in the process, but I stayed standing.

I went to grab the blanket to put around me when I started gagging. It smelled like dirty nachos. **[Sorry a friend of mine says that all the time and I couldn't resist]** The blanket was disgusting. It was like a bunch of things that should never be put together had all landed themselves on that blanket and mixed together.

Trying no to breathe in deeply, I wrapped it around myself and retreated into a corner, where I collapsed still shivering.

**Sterling POV**

"Sterling!!!" Blade shrieked in my ear, making me shoot straight up in bed. "You said we wouldn't stay long! You lied!" He continued screaming as he pounded me with his fists—harder than any five year old should be able to. "We had to go get Max!"

I looked at the clock. Shit. We had stayed here a lot longer than any of us had planned. Several hours more. Blade was right, we had to get moving. Nobody had set an alarm and the long flight the day before had wiped us out.

I got up to wake Peak as Blade ran into the other room, yelling at the top of his lungs for the flock to get up. After making sure Peak was awake and wasn't falling back asleep, I went to the other room. Blade was going in between kids talking continuously in a very loud voice. Angel was already up in the bathroom getting ready.

When everybody was fully conscious and had realized how much time we lost, it seemed like someone had hit the fast forward button. Everybody hurried around.

Even though they hadn't seen Max for over four years and they had kicked her out, you could tell how much she meant to every one of them. Even Fang wasn't as slow and careless as usual. He made sure the littler ones were ready before caring about himself.

We were out of the place pretty soon and on our way again. Everybody was flying a little faster than before, trying to catch up on lost time.

**[Don't feel like writing about the whole day… sorry but im skipping ahead to later. And I didn't want to keep writing in Sterlings. Sorry for switching POV's so much]**

**Fang POV**

As we neared the school, the flock got more tense, old memories coming to the surface again. Jeb's betrayal, Angel's kidnapping, Max 2, and most of all—in my mind at least, Max putting herself in danger so we could be safe. And then me kicking her out for it.

We weren't far from the place we grew up when I called out "Guys. Let's stop." And everybody dove towards the forest. Peak grabbed Angel's hand as they both disappeared, Peak teleporting them to the ground getting them there much faster than anyone else.

"AHH!!!" Three voices shrieked from the ground. There should have only been two. I sped up at the same time I saw Peak step in front of Angel who was peeking over his shoulder curiously. I had to get down there before anything happened to them. Sterling was right behind me and we landed on wither side of the two kids at the same time.

The was a terrified looking girl around my age on the ground, looking like she had just fallen out of the tree. Her curly red hair was a mass of tangles and twigs. Her dark brown eyes were huge from surprise. I heard everybody land behind us and the girl's eyes got even bigger—if that was even possible. She took a step back, her eyes darting around for a way to escape.

"Who are you?" Sterling asked and she jumped a little at his voice.

"Tally." She said shortly, her eyes narrowed as she looked at us.

"It's okay." Angle said stepping around Peak and towards Tally. "We're not here to take you back. We're looking for someone too." Tally visible relaxed, deciding to trust the angelic little girl in front of her. "Maybe we can help each other. I'm Angel and this is Peak." She tugged on his hand making him stumble into her and she giggled. "That is Sterling and Gazzy and Iggy and Nudge and Fang." Angel pointed each one of us out and I nodded in response. "The little one is Blade." Tally waved shyly.

If Angel scanned her mind and had decided to trust her enough to tell her our real names, she couldn't be bad. Angel knew better, but I would still keep am eye on her. I realized I was staring at felt like an idiot. She was gorgeous like Max, but in a totally different way. Her cheeks flooded red when she caught me staring and I quickly looked away.

"Fang. Why did we stop? I want to find Max." Blade said poking me in the side.

"We needed a plan." I looked at Tally "You're trying to find someone too, right?" I asked remembering what Angel had said earlier. She nodded.

"Yeah. Two people really. There was this girl who helped me escapes. She said she knew my brother. She's the only reason I'm not still there and I want to return the favor. And if I can save her, I might be able to find my brother." Angel looked up sharply.

"What did she look like?" Tally looked confused for a second before concentrating.

"I didn't see her for long and I'd never seen her before. She was tall with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. I think they were brown at least. She seemed to know what she was doing and told me to keep going instead of trying to help her when the whitecoats and the huge body guard guy grabbed her. She told me her name." She paused and we all waited tensely. Everything she said sounded like Max. "M-" She huffed out a breath. "It started with an M, but I don't remember what it was."

"Max?" Blade suggested hopefully, bouncing lightly on his toes in anticipation as her eyes lit up.

"Yeah! That was it. That's who I'm looking for, she will know how to get to my brother." Her eyes were dark with determination. "I just don't know the best way to get back in the school." She practically spat the last word.

"We can help with that last part; we have a few advantages on our side." Sterling said looking around the room. "You have any special powers?" She shook her head.

"No. But I've been there long enough to know my way around. I should be able to help find where they are keeping her." He nodded. That would be helpful, but with Angel helping we would have been able to figure it out anyway.

It ended up being decided that Sterling, Peak, Blade, Angel, Nudge, and Tally would go in. That left Iggy, Gazzy, and I to be ready on the outside in case something went wrong. I would have rather been actually saving Max, but the others had abilities that might be really useful. I would be able to sneak in unnoticed if I had to.

We figured it would be best to wait until dark so less whitecoats would be around. It was getting late anyway, so it gave everybody a few hours to get rested up. Finally it was late enough and we all got up. It was time to save Max.

**Ok ok… so as I was writing this is made a decision. I think im only doing one more chapter to end the story. Im getting kind of tired of this storyline and just want to get it finished. So plan on one more chapter.**

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed and im super sorry it took so long to get this up. I should be able to get the last chapter up soon because of Christmas break, but im not making any promises.**

**Thanks again and don't forget to review!**

**~emz23hilski**


	13. Chapter 13

**So this would have been up long time ago, but we had this ginormous ice storm that knocked out the power everywhere. So there was no heat for almost 3 days in freezing weather. It sucked. & ive been super busy with a huge basketball tourney that I was always at practice for and then I kinda forgot about it… opps. And then we got another big snow storm and they sent us home early and everything had been canceled. Then for the past couple days it's been twenty below zero F and I have extra time to finish what I already had done! Oh and sorry about jumping around from POVs but idk how else to tie things up right. Right. So… here's the last one!**

**Sterling POV**

We waited until it was dark to make our move. If it had been up to me we would have been there and back with Max by now. The darkness wasn't that important; it would only conceal us when we weren't in the building. And being in the building was kind of the point of the whole thing considering Max was inside.

We flew silently until we were in sight of the schools grounds. Fang, Gazzy, and Iggy found a concealed spot in a group of trees to wait just in case Angel or I sent them a signal. It would probably be Angel if anything happened just so they wouldn't freak. None of them had realized yet I could project my thoughts.

The rest of us continued on and over the fence—even though I thought the group was bigger than necessary. That meant a bigger chance of getting caught or having problems.

Only Angel, Blade, and Peak were really needed but there was no way I was letting them go in alone. Tally was tagging along because she knew the place best, but on account of Angel being a mind reader and all it wasn't really an essential. Nudge was along in case we needed a computer whiz but I wasn't planning on being in there that long. Get Max. Get out. Hopefully it would be as simple as it sounds. Nudge being there would speed things up if she could find out exactly where Max was.

It was a nasty night with thick rolling clouds that seemed to hang ominously low. It was a little foggy too so that added to our cover. For some reason there was a man in a white coat taking a smoking break outside one of the doors. It was a good thing because the only thing we had planned was to break in; now we could get in undetected.

We landed and waited quietly until he started to head back inside. Before the door closed completely, it flew back open and shook at the hinges. I looked around startled and noticed Nudge grinning from ear to ear. It took me a second to realize she had done her magnetic thing to open the door so Peak could get a good look inside. He had to have seen the place he was teleporting to. We could have had someone just catch the door, but that might result in being detected if someone was around. After a moment, Angel scanned to make sure the coast was clear before Peak got us in.

We broke up into two groups; Peak, Blade, and I in one and Angel, Nudge and Tally in the other. The girls decided to head to the nearest computer while we headed the other way—towards the heart of the building.

Angel agreed to tell me where to find Max as soon as Nudge got it out of the computer. We would be the ones to actually get Max so the girls would be able to get out easier if something went wrong. We were going in the direction Tally had pointed us in so we would be able to get to Max faster. By the time Nudge figured out exactly where Max was being held, we would already be close to her.

I really wasn't sure what to expect. I hadn't come from this branch of ITEX and from of Max's stories, this place was a lot worse than the lab I came from. It had been over two days since she had been taken. It hadn't been that long at all, but I knew they could do a lot of damage in that amount of time. With any luck, Max would be perfectly fine and they had only stuck her in a room, preferably not a cage, and left her alone. I didn't really believe it, nut hoping for the best was the only thing I could do.

The halls were eerily quiet and deserted, this part of the building seemed to be abandoned. We crept foreword and the closer we got to the center of the school the more careful we became. The center was much more alive than the outer halls had been.

Peak wasn't paying much attention and almost walked straight into a white coat when we got to a corner. I managed to grab his collar just before they collided. The white coat had a clipboard attached to his face and was so busy muttering to him that he didn't notice the little boy that shouldn't be there almost run into him. I sighed in relief and sent a glare at Peak. He was looking at me with wide eyes and his mouth shaped in a 'O'.

"Sorry." He said more loudly than he should have and I sent him another look. "Sorry." He said again, this time at least he whispered.

Looking around I noticed most of the doors were closed and the only thing marking the rooms were numbers. I frowned; I was hoping somehow they would be labeled so it would be easier to figure out where Max might be.

_Angel?_ I thought at her hoping they had the information we needed.

_Huh? _She replied right away

_Do you guys have anything yet? _I held my breath waiting for the answer.

_Nudge just got the floor plan. Where are you?_ She asked and I looked around me to the nearest door.

_Uhh… just passed room 173_

_You're by the offices. The holding chambers are in the 300's. Max should be there. I…AWWW SHOOT!! _I froze, what did that mean? _Just a second Sterling we got company._

Just then a blaring alarm filled my ears and I winced slightly at the sudden loud noise. Hopefully the girls would be okay. I wanted to contact Angel but didn't risk it in case it distracted her from whatever was going on. She would contact me as soon as she could.

Blade looked up at me with wide eyes. "Run?" He asked. I nodded and we took off.

"I think Max is in one of the rooms in the three hundreds. We'll go from there. I don't know if they know about the three of us yet."

Peak caught my meaning and looked up sharply. "Angel?" If it had been any other time I would have teased him about it.

"Will get back to me as soon as she takes care of something." I finished as confidently as I could. I'll admit I was worried about them. I knew Nudge and Angel could fight and with Angels mind control on their side they would be fine, but still I was concerned. I mean none of them are really that big. Angel just turned ten and all three girls were really skinny. Obviously they're stronger than they look, but still it could be bad if they ran into some big experiments. If it weren't for Max I would have been sprinting back to help them, but as it was we kept going.

**Angel POV**

It really didn't take long to find an open room with a computer. I mean they were all over the place. Nudge, Tally, and I ducked into a room that was open with bright lights on.

Nudge sat down immediately in front of the flat screen computer in the corner. Rest her hands on the keyboard she closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly. Her eyes flashed open a second later and she started typing. Different things were flashing all over the screen.

She was muttering so low under her breath even with mutant kid hearing, I couldn't make out what she was saying. "Here start out with this." Nudge said to me, shrinking the screen so she was still going through other files.

I looked at what she had pulled up. It was a floor plan of the building. I almost laughed when I saw it was divided into labeled sections. That would make it easier to find the right stuff.

_Angel? _Sterling's voice echoes in my head making be jump slightly.

_Huh?_ I replied distracted as I looked at what the screen again.

_Do you guys have anything yet? _He asked quickly, his voice anxious.

_Nudge just got the floor plan. Where are you?_ I asked trying to figure out where they would be by now.

_Uhh… just passed room 173._ I looked at the little screen quickly finding approximately where they were.

_You're by the offices. The holding chambers are in the 300's. Max should be there. I…_

"What the--?" A deep voice broke me out of my conversation and I spun around to find a man in a white coat staring at us from the door.

"What's wrong?" Another voice asked from the hallway.

"Gary, go raise the alarm. We've got experiments." The first man said and I heard a set of feet run down the hall.

_AWWW SHOOT!!_ _Just a second Sterling we got company._ I sent him quickly and cut the connection. Seconds later an alarm filled the air.

"Nudge, keep looking Tally and I got this." I instructed turning to door. I could hear more footsteps coming down the hall.

"We got what?" Tally asked her voice slightly panicked as she stepped back until her back was against some file cabinets. "I can't fight."

Great, she was useless then. I ignored her and turned to the two men standing in the doorway. It was easy enough to get them to run out of the room to distract the incoming people, but if there got to be too many, I couldn't mind control all of them.

For the moment the room was clear except for the scuffling shuffles that could be heard from the hall. I turned around. "Nudge?"

She didn't reply, instead clicking a few buttons. Pausing she looked at the screen and plucked one last key and leaned forward. "Got it!! Room 374." Nudge said jumping up from the computer.

_Room 374. We'll get away from these guys and meet you there._ I told Sterling.

_No. You go ahead and get out. Fang will murder me if anything happens to you. _I frowned. We could handle ourselves and Fang wasn't here to make me do anything.

_But it would_... I started to argue but he cut me off.

_They don't know we're here. If you lead them to us it will be that much harder. Just get out of here safe. If we need help, you'll know._ Sterling told me and I sighed. He made a good point and made the most sense.

_Fine. _I agreed grudgingly. _One thing goes wrong we're coming in after you._ I threatened.

_That won't be necessary. We're here. See you on the outside._ He said then he was gone from my mind. I hope this all worked out okay.

"Okay let's go guys. The guys are getting Max so we're going to leave so they don't get tracked down." I explained as Nudge clicked things off the computer and stood up.

"Alrighty then, let's go. Hey Angel, how are we going to do this since Tally can't fight? I mean if she got caught then we would have to come in again and again and they might catch on and that would be bad. Do you remember the time when"

"NUDGE!" I said loudly, trying to stop her rant. "Let's just get out of here." She bobbed her head up and down but luckily kept her mouth shut.

"Ummm… okay. Nudge you take out whoever gets by me and Tally please stay behind us. Yell if something happens alright?"

Tally nodded frantically her hair bouncing wildly in her face. We weren't far from an exit so it shouldn't be too hard to get out. Once we were in the air, we were more or less safe. I took a breath and marched toward the door where more footsteps were rapidly approaching.

**Max POV**

I woke from my sleep to a blaring noise that filled my ears and hurt my head. I shivered and wrapped the disgusting blanket tighter to me. My stomach ached. I hadn't gone this long without food for a long time.

My ears pricked as I heard something in the hallway. Footsteps and voices. Closing my eyes, I concentrated and determined there was two, maybe three people coming toward my cell. It was the first time I had heard anybody even approach my cell. The footsteps stopped outside my door and with a huge _BANG_ the door came off its hinges and landed on the floor with a puff of dust.

My eyes snapped open and my mouth dropped. A small figure stood in front rubbing his fist with two people behind him. My heart leapt. "Blade? Peak? Sterling?" I asked and winced as soon as the words left my mouth. My voice was all raspy and it sounded really weak, though I don't know why since I had been talking to Ryder. I coughed to clear my throat.

Ryder. God, if they were getting me out of here I couldn't leave him here. Even through all the stuff he had put us through and he was the reason I was here in the first place. I understood why he did it, the same reason I did what I did before the flock kicked me out. It was just to keep my family safe. And since his sister was free, he wouldn't be bound to the school anymore.

"Max!" The hurried forward and Blade barreled into me, my breath leaving for a second. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. His body warmth was much better than the blanket. When he looked up his eyes were sparkling with tears. "You're okay." He whispered burying his face in my shoulder.

"Of course I am. Now help me up." I demanded, sounding better than I had hoped. Blade reluctantly released me and stood up, still clinging to one hand. He looked at the cuff around my wrist for a second before snapping it easily off. Even though I was used to it, I was still in slight awe. I had messed with that thing for hours and it didn't budge.

Sterling pulled me up with my free hand and my vision clouded as my legs trembled beneath me. Sterling automatically snaked an arm around my waist to support me. Normally I would have protested, but if I wanted to stay standing that was probably the best thing.

Peak wrapped his arm around my middle, not noticing anything was wrong. "It's freezing in here." Was the first comment out of his mouth and I had to smile. Same old Peak. When he left go, Sterling pulled me into him, holding me close. He kissed the top of my head.

_You have no idea how worried we all were. _Sterling's voice popped into my head. _Thank God, you're alright. Sort of. _He amended the end.

_I'm fine._ I reassured him and even though he frowned and didn't believe me he let it go.

"Peak, get us out of here." Sterling said and Peak reached for my hand but I pulled back.

"Not yet. We have to get Ryder first." I said unwinding myself from Sterling's grasp and walking shakily to the door. My legs started to give out but Sterling caught me before I could hit the ground.

"Are you insane?" He asked. "You know he's the reason you're here right?"

I rolled my eyes frustrated. "Yes I know that. But there's stuff you don't understand."

"Than explain it to me otherwise we're leaving right now." He challenged.

"There's not time. I'll explain everything later. I promise." I said in exasperation. He was still looking doubtfully at me and I fixed my stare on him. "Look we'll all stay close and Peak can get us out quickly if anything happens." I said trying to convince him. Even though Ryder and I had our differences I wasn't going to leave him here.

"Max, I don't know. Nobody else will be very happy if we show up with him." He said tiredly and I knew he was close to giving in.

"Trust me on this. I can't leave him here, it's not like you think it is." I said softly looking up into his eyes. For some reason this reminded me off when the flock broke up the first time. When Fang was too stubborn to accept Ari wasn't all evil. If he would have just trusted me we would have never split up and maybe Germany wouldn't have played out like it did. It would have been easier together.

I shook the thought from my head and looked to see Sterling wavering. "Please. Just trust me."

He nodded solemnly. "Fine. But I swear one false move and he's gone." He threatened and I nodded, relieved he had believed me. "Where's he at?"

I paused unsure for a second. "I think I can find it again. At first I stayed with him." His jaw tightened but he didn't say anything. Without warning he swung me up into his arms. "Hey!" I protested. "What are you doing? Put me down." I hissed at him trying to wriggle out of his grip. If I actually got out of it though, I doubt I would have landed well.

"No." He said, his arms tightening around me. "You can barely walk to the door; don't tell me you can get all the way to Ryder's room easily." He said in a low voice.

"I could have." I said stubbornly crossing my arms as well as I could in my position. He made a good point though, so I didn't protest much more.

I pointed out the way I remembered and luckily we only went the wrong way twice. "It's that one." I said pointing to a door, not at all positive it was actually the right one.

Blade threw his fist at the door and it came off just like mine had. Ryder sat up from the cot he was sitting on, his eyes wide with surprise. The room was exactly how it had been before; luckily I had chosen the right one.

"Get up. You're coming with us." Sterling all but growled at Ryder. He slowly stood up.

"Why?" He asked cautiously.

"Because Max is too stubborn for her own good and refused to leave without you." Sterling replied shortly. That wasn't exactly how I would word it, but at the moment it was close enough. Ryder looked at me curiously, raising an eyebrow. I glared at him in response.

"Are you coming or not? I'll leave you here you know." I threatened.

"You're all staying here." We all whipped around to find another person in the doorway. The hulk was back. Dear god I thought he was gone. He grinned at me and I stiffened.

A growl rose in Sterling's throat and he carefully put me on the cot and turned back to the man that was about twice his size. Ryder stepped up beside him as Peak and Blade rushed to my side. Sterling and Ryder stared at each other a second before nodding at the same time. If they tag teamed him they could bring him down. We could have just left, but it seemed the boys wanted to knock the hulk out which was fine by me.

I would have been right there with them beating the snot out of the guy if I didn't feel so crappy. But I had a feeling if I tried to help I would get in the way and look like an idiot.

The hulk was the first one to move. He lurched forward awkwardly; his hugeness seemed to make him somewhat uncoordinated. I had never noticed it before, but now watching as his two targets stepped away easily it was obvious. He swung his arms wildly, most of his punches not landing properly on either of them.

Finally after Sterling sent the hulk reeling in Ryder's direction, Ryder landed a final blow to the side of the head that rendered the hulk unconscious.

"I've always wanted to do that." He muttered under his breath, a small grin sliding over his face. He nodded at Sterling who returned the gesture; maybe the two of them could get along eventually.

"Guys that was awesome!" Peak exclaimed, jumping up and waving his arms in the air.

I stood up slowly, trying not to sway, but failing. "Max?" Blade asked clutching my hand tightly.

"I'm fine." I said raising my hand to stop Sterling from coming and picking me up again. After a moment I felt a little better.

"Max, you can't even stand properly. That's not fine." He argued frowning at me.

"Look I don't really want to get into this, but Max let him help you until you feel better." Ryder added and I saw Sterling shoot him a surprised glance. Ryder saw it. "What?" He shot at Sterling. "It's true." He mumbled before turning to the door to leave.

"That's not how we leave." Peak piped up again and Sterling made a move towards me again as Ryder answered Peak, but I wasn't listening to them.

"No Sterling. It doesn't need to look worse than it really is. No unnecessary fussing." I pointed out, planting a hand on my hip.

"That's fine. I won't carry you then." He nodded calmly and I looked at him suspiciously before he twisted his arm around my waist, not giving me enough time to slip away. "But after just getting you back, I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

I frowned but didn't argue. I knew it would get me no where. His mind was made up. At least it wasn't as bad as him carrying me; that would be embarrassing to show up in front of the rest like that.

I sighed. "Let's get out of this place guys." Peak practically skipped over to us, Ryder in tow.

"Ready, set, GO!" Peak shouted and a moment later my knees started to give out on me and I was glad Sterling held me up. Falling right away wouldn't have looked too good either.

"Tally?" Was the first thing I heard and I whipped my head around. Ryder was staring at the girl with curly red hair. She turned around at her name.

"Ryder!!" She squealed and ran over to him, but after that I didn't know what happened because a little shrieking stampede came flying at me. Blade and Peak moved out of the way, making more room around me. Sterling loosened his hold, but stayed close.

"Max! Max ! Max! You're okay!" Everybody was around me at once dancing and hugging.

"Of course I am." I assured them and after a while thing calmed down. Tally came over me and gave me huge hug.

"Thank you so much Max. If it weren't for you, I'd still be in that horrible place and Ryder, well…." She trailed off and I figured he must have told her what he had been doing for her. "You know. And I'm so sorry." She gushed and I waved her off.

"It's fine. I'd do anything for my family too. Don't worry about it." I assured her and I felt her relax only to stiffen again when Fang's voice called out in a venomous tone.

"Why did you bring him?" Fang was glaring at Ryder and Sterling, who had finally left my side.

"Max insisted." Sterling shrugged the question off easily.

"And you went with it?" He snorted in disbelief.

"I trust her." Sterling answered shortly.

I stood up. After being warmed up and having something to eat I felt a little better. "I wasn't about to leave him there." I answered as I walked over to them, Tally behind me.

"You remember who this guy is right?" He asked incredulous. "I don't care if he had a reason or not. He's the whole reason you were in there." He said and I could feel Tally practically flinch behind me.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I know that Fang. But if you remember right, some people would do anything for the ones they love." I snapped before turning away. I know I had hit a mark as he slipped into the trees, but at the moment I didn't care.

**Fang POV**

I sighed and rested my head in my hands. Ever since we had found Max again in New York, things hadn't been like I thought they would be. Everything was so much more complicated than I expected.

The trees rustled and I looked up to see Tally had followed me. "Hey." She said softly before sitting next to me on the ground. "Look, I know Ryder and I"

I cut her off gruffly before she could continue. "That's not the problem right now."

"Oh." She was surprised. "Max?" She asked and I nodded.

"Ever since the flock and I found her in New York, nothing has been like I thought it would be." I said, staring off into the darkness.

"You didn't expect her to have a family or to have Sterling." She was extremely perceptive.

"Well yeah, but it's not that. I'm glad she had some one these last four years. It's just we grew up together and were always best friends. We knew each other better than anyone else. And now it's like we never had that. We can't even talk without getting into an argument or something." I looked at her. "Sorry." I muttered an apology. "Didn't mean to unload all that on you."

She laughed softly. "That's why I came out here. I know it's not the same, but if I'm around, you always have someone to talk to okay? Now let's get back to everybody."

We stood up and walked back out to the group. Max looked up and stood. "Let's go home guys." Well if they were going home I guess the flock and I would be by ourselves again. I saw the faces of the flock fall. After getting Max back, we lose her again. She spread her wings and looked at me. "That means all of you." She said with a smile before jumping into the air, not leaving any time for protesting. Gazzy and Iggy whooped while the girls squealed. One by one, we took off into the night sky.

**ummmm... the end. I know I know, he's not really all that Fang-y but that's how I wanted it…lol… sooooooo… that's it. Hope you enjoyed it and tell me how you liked it or hated it. Either way works for me! Thanks for reading if you stuck with me and got this far and thanks to everybody who reviewed. **


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